Washington Report, 2007-05

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Since the Democratic-controlled Congress convened on January 4, U.S. lawmakers have held numerous hearings and introduced legislation aimed at rectifying the "unfairness" underlying the U.S. trade deficit with China. Many also have challenged the benefits of trade agreements negotiated by the Bush Administration, such as the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and insisted on the inclusion of labor and environmental standards in trade accords. These initiatives respond to what many Members of Congress perceive as the public's growing sense of unease and vulnerability about the effects of trade and globalization. Ambassador Carla A. Hills, who served as U.S. Trade Representative from 1989 to 1993, challenges trade critics on Capitol Hill. She offers new insights into the imbalance in U.S.-China economic relations, touts the benefits of the U.S.-Korea FTA, and underscores the need to better educate workers about the importance of trade to their livelihoods.Washington Report is a bimonthly newsletter that provides an "inside-the-Beltway" perspective on developments in U.S.-Asia Pacific relations. The centerpiece of the report is an interview with a leading authority on an economic, political, and/or strategic issues of importance to transpacific relations